Come Follow Me LDS- 2 Nephi 11-25 (Feb 17 - 23)

'The Meaning of Isaiah'

- Clues to reading these Isaiah chapters are found in Nephi's 'Introduction'

- Isaiah focuses on Christ, Covenant and the Higher & Lower Laws

- The meaning of the title, Immanuel

- Trying to save ourselves vs having Faith in Jesus Christ

- When lower values are raised in society, society falls apart

 

 

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today we're gonna go over the meaning of

Isaiah and his message here we go

alright so in this episode we are going

to cover second Nephi chapters 11

through 25 that's quite a number of

chapters I want to focus on two things

one is we're going to focus on the intro

chapter to this session and there's a

reason why this is a section and they

did it this way the intro section is

chapter 11 where Nephi is going to talk

to us he's going to introduce some

themes here that are conducive to what

we've already been talking about and

introduced Isaiah again and then we're

going to go through these thirteen

chapters of Isaiah but we're only going

to focus on the things that kind of

relate directly to what Nephi is saying

and how he's introducing this and to his

commentary in the last chapter chapter

25 and so we'll just dip down in a

couple places we're especially going to

dip down in in chapter six because I

want to go through the temple imagery

there are sixteen chapter sixteen and

and then we'll kind of touch on some of

the themes that Nephi covers but focus

mostly on his chapters which are

chapters 11 and 25 so let's get on with

with chapter 11 here so here's how he

introduces the chapter here remember

this is Jacob that has just been

speaking here probably at a in a ritual

setting in a festival perhaps maybe even

a festival of Tabernacles and a Day of

Atonement setting which would be very

appropriate for reading Isaiah and then

he says this in verse 1 and now Jacob

speak many more things to my people at

that time nevertheless only these

have I caused to be written for the

things which I have written suffice with

me and of course what did he focus on

right those two things that we've talked

about with the general theme of the Book

of Mormon as a whole which are the

doctrine of Christ number one and the

the covenants that are made with Israel

primarily the God of Abraham Isaac and

Jacob and that it would be the new and

everlasting covenant that has that is

focused on that so verse 2 he starts

setting this up and let's see what he's

setting up here as he knows he's going

to be bringing in all these chapters of

Isaiah

how does he set this up this helps us to

understand why he copies all of this

into the Book of Mormon so we get verse

2 here and now I need I write more of

the words of Isaiah more Isaiah for my

soul delighteth in his words for I will

liken his words unto my people and I

will send them forth unto all my

children for he verily saw my Redeemer

even as I have seen him so there's two

things were getting here and he talks

about this a little bit more later on

one is that the way that Isaiah

writes is in a way that is very symbolic

and we get this throughout most of the

scriptures right and in a way it's

it touches our minds and our hearts

in a different way than what we would

get if we just were speaking naturally

and in a modern tongue right now and

the reason is because it's so

symbolic and Isaiah especially for Nephi

writes in a way where we can liken his

words to our own situations what that

would mean then is that Isaiah writes

in a way that it has universal truths to

it that's the way I see it and what I

mean by that is that he's talking

about the Savior and things that he'd

have to go through you could also apply

that to Israel or a remnant of Israel

you could

so apply that to you right and so he's

takes a step back kind of that 30,000

foot level on these principles and where

he has for example the Savior in mind

you can still glean the principles there

more easily from the way that Isaiah

writes and apply them to your own

circumstances your own family your self

individually your own time etc and so

that's why something like Isaiah can be

very difficult to understand apart from

the cultural differences and the you

know 2700 years here between his

writings and our time and besides the

translation that we have here we also

have here a way of writing that

actually helps us overcome a lot of

those things if we understand it right

if we can if we can read it a little

differently and apply it to ourselves

there's some things that we have to pick

up with Isaiah we have to understand

what his focus is and kind of some

keys as to how he writes but once we get

those then we can more clearly

understand and liken his words to

ourselves in our own situation and

that's what Nephi is doing and we've

already kind of used a couple of those

keys with Isaiah and understanding that

he is all about the doctrine of Christ

and that he's all about the covenants of

Abraham right they're made with Abraham

Isaac and Jacob

so likening is number 1 in verse 2 and

number 2 that he has here he is because

he has seen the Redeemer we'll get that

in chapter 16 so why is he using Isaiah

because he can apply it easily more

easily once he's understood it to his

people and his time and because of the

Savior because of his testimony of the

Savior and the things that he has seen

so he says in verse 3 that my brother

Jacob has also seen him so then there

are three witnesses he says

there is Nephi and Isaiah and Jacob and

through these three witnesses then he

wants to put that out there and he

starts talking about something that he

calls proving which is a little bit

different than what we might think of in

a scientific sense he wants to provide

evidence right he wants to persuade men

to come unto Christ those were his words

and he believes that Isaiah is a great

way to do that now as I said in our I

don't remember in the last episode or in

the study group last week this weekend

but it was we talked about how we are

not yet in a place as a people as a

covenant people as members of the church

where we understand Isaiah enough and

where we understand who we are and how

we fit into the writings of Isaiah and

in many ways we may not understand

Christ enough unless we understand the

writings of Isaiah the purpose for

Isaiah to be in here is not just for

Nephi and his people it's for us

and yet it's one of the last things

really that we've really started to

delve into as a people in understanding

what Isaiah is doing it has a very

important place in the Book of Mormon

and it really the Book of Mormon is

completely built around Isaiah so it's

crucial that we understand it one of the

things to understand about Isaiah for

example is that we can see in a lot of

the changes that are made some of the

things that are removed from the King

James Version for example that we have

some of the things that are added in the

King James Version so there's changes

right so we would say that the actual

Isaiah that Nephi is writing here would

be from at least 600 BC in the brass

plates whereas the Masoretic text that

we have with the King James Version and

that all modern Bibles use almost all

modern Bible

Jews would come somewhere between the

first and second century AD to the

eighth ninth 10th century AD and there

are changes we have the Isaiah scroll

from the Dead Sea Scrolls also where

there are differences but the things

that we see in the Book of Mormon

where there are differences for example

there are trends that you see in the

small changes that are made one of them

is that a lot of the identifying the

people of Israel as being wicked those

identifications as identifiers are

removed a number of times there's a lot

more of that in Nephi's Isaiah then

there is in the King James Isaiah

so sometime between Lehigh's brass

plates the Isaiah that was in there and

that doesn't mean that the

Deuteronomists couldn't have made those

changes later on in the brass plates the

Isaiah brass plates could have been

engraved a long time before or more at

the time or shortly after the time of

Isaiah and then the deuteronomist came

in and maybe made some changes or other

scribes may have come in and made some

changes but the trend there for example

is we see that and this is not Joseph

Smith picking this out right but the

trend is that the identifier of

Israel as being wicked are greatly

reduced in the King James Version that

we have and there are other things like

titles right that we have a reduction in

the use of the titles of the Lord of

the Lord of Hosts right the

Deuteronomists did not like that title

so some of those are removed not many of

them but there are a few of them that

are removed in the King James

Version so he says hear about Christ and

Isaiah he says in verse 4 behold my soul

delighteth improving unto my people the

truth of the coming of Christ this gets

to me this gets very exciting with what

he's about to go over here yet it is the

theme of the higher and lower laws and

he's going to be very concise here in

the intro and then concise in the

conclusion in commentary in verse in

chapter 25 he says my soul delighteth

improving into my people the truth of

the coming of Christ for this and

hath the law of Moses been given again

as we've signed Jerusalem what happened

they got rid of the higher law and Nephi

here is saying look this is not what

Isaiah believed this is not what Isaiah

talked about he talked about the

Covenant of Abraham he talked about the

coming of a savior he prophesied about

the Savior and his sacrifice and yet

we'll see here later in the Book of

Mormon where others are going to try and

do the same thing and get rid of the

higher law and just have the law of

Moses and we see that that's what

happened with the Pharisees and others

at the time of Jesus Christ they had

gotten rid of the higher law they had

gotten rid of the doctrine of Christ so

for this end hath the law of Moses been

given right it's a looking forward to

the coming of Christ and they followed

the law of Moses it was very important

to the Nephites to follow the law of

Moses as they should and all things

which have been given of God from the

beginning of the world unto men are the

typifying of him in other words we can

look at a lot of things and a lot of

principles but everything again just

like we talked about that values

hierarchy in how we value things the way

things are in the world whether we

perceive them that way or not the truth

and the way things are all of these

things naturally build up to Christ to

the doctrine of Christ and that's what

the law of Moses is for can you imagine

completely removing the entire purpose

of the law of Moses that's what they

experienced in Jerusalem it's a complete

corruption of the plan of salvation then

he says here also our second point here

for the Book of Mormon in verse 5 and

also my soul delighteth in the car

evidence of the Lord which he hath made

to our fathers there it is

think of Abraham Isaac and Jacob yea my

soul delighteth in His grace and in his

justice and power and mercy this is the

higher law in the great and eternal plan

of deliverance from death and that would

be both physical and spiritual death so

again he's putting it right out there

the higher law and that's what the Book

of Mormon is trying to bring back to

what they had in the Old Testament so

this is what Isaiah is all about and

then he just hits it again and again

here verse 6 and my soul delighteth in

proving unto my people that save Christ

should come all men must perish and

verse 7 for if there be no Christ there

be no God sounds a lot like Lehi in

second Nephi 2 and if there be no God we

are not for there could have been no

creation but there is a god and he is

Christ and he cometh in the fullness of

his own time so everything hinges on

Christ and so he says here in verse 8 as

he finishes up to introduce Isaiah and

now I write some of the words of Isaiah

that whoso of my people shall see these

words may lift up we've gone over that a

lot may lift up their hearts and rejoice

for all men now these are the words and

you may liken them unto you and unto all

men okay so this is a universal truth

that Isaiah is going to be going over

here an underlying universal truth or

truths that Nephi wants to put in here

for his people for himself that he

delights in the words and for us today

and I really believe that as we

understand what Nephi that what Isaiah

speaks of and we understand his

prophecies and his words more in the

Book of Mormon we will understand the

Book of Mormon much much better and

where it's coming from it'll get

much better context like I said it's all

wrapped around Isaiah but it's also

going to put us in a position where we

understand our place as we like and

Isaiah unto ourselves we understand

understand more who we are and what our

place is in the plan of salvation and in

these words we are in the last days and

just as President Nelson says that the

most important thing for us right now is

to be engaged in this mission of

gathering Israel and there is nothing

that speaks more powerfully of that then

Isaiah so as we grow to understand these

words in these chapters and overall the

Book of Mormon I think that we're

actually going to have not an identity

crisis but I think we'll have a better

understanding again of what our identity

is as covenant members of the church in

in these last days so let's get into

Isaiah here a little bit again we're not

going to spend a lot of time going deep

into it but we're gonna find some of the

themes that Nephi seems to want us to

know about so chapter 2 of Isaiah is

chapter 12 here in 2nd Nephi chapter 13

is chapter 3 all the way to chapters 24

and 14 of Isaiah alright so we start off

here in chapter 12 by the way Isaiah 2

is exactly where you would start

more than likely chapter 1 of Isaiah is

a later insertion and it looks like it's

a later insertion that was written down

kind of as an introduction into maybe

the entire the entirety of Isaiah

remember it's very possible that not all

of Isaiah was written in Isaiah's time

but it does appear that chapter 1 may be

an introduction and that would make

sense if we're starting here in chapter

2 of Isaiah that might be chapter 1 so

to speak for Nephi but he says here in

verse 1

and I'm going to go through the

Nephi version of Isaiah here the word

that Isaiah the son of Amos

saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem okay

when we say saw what is he talking about

is envisioning this right this is a

vision that he sees very important also

when we understand I've gone over this

before but think of the imagery in a lot

of this right easy a lot of the imagery

that we get is very symbolic because of

these visions that we have these are

prophecies and so Isaiah is having a

vision and this is what he sees and it

focuses right away on the temple first -

and it shall come to pass in the last

days when the mountain of the Lord's

house shall be established in the top of

the mountains and shall be exalted above

the hills and all nations shall flow

unto it so again where what is he saying

he's seeing the last days he's seeing

our times and he is seeing the temples

being built and he's seeing how all

nations will flow unto the temple well

how would all nations in his time be

able to do that well they couldn't it

would be virtually impossible but in our

time with so many temples and

transportation that is definitely a

possibility so for example here their

land is also full of idols they worship

the work of their own hands that which

their own fingers have made why would

this be important here well what is me

if I just talked about in the last

chapter he talked about the law of Moses

the lower law and so here when you cut

off the higher law what you're doing is

you're cutting off God you're saying

that revelation doesn't exist we're

gonna close the Canon there's no more

revelation no visionary man right or

women

there's no Christ that's gonna come down

from earth and pay for our sins so it's

the same thing that he's saying here

you're going there

hands are full of idols that you make

with your own hands right that's the

lower law and so that's how I see that

he's applying this to cutting that totem

pole in half and all of our values that

come from God above that he does for us

the Holy Ghost the blessings that he

would give us the visions of a prophet

the atonement right are all to be done

away with

our idols our merit only their what we

do it's kind of like the Tower of Babel

right we're going to build our own Tower

to heaven that is a perfect example of

cutting off the higher law and saying

well we're just going to do this

ourselves but for them they're going to

be hiding in the rocks we've heard that

before

for the fear of the Lord and the glory

of his majesty sup shall smite thee and

then we start getting this we get some

more understanding about Lehigh's vision

and some of the imagery maybe where that

comes from it says for the day of this

is verse 12 for the day of the Lord of

hosts soon cometh upon all nations it's

gonna be judged

yea upon everyone yay upon the proud

and lofty and upon everyone who is

lifted up and he shall be brought low by

the great and spacious building being

lifted up it's off the ground and great

will be the fall they're off just like

Jerusalem and in verse 18 and the idols

he shall utterly abolish so if we think

about the idols here and likening this

unto ourselves it's okay I can do this

on my own I don't need the Lord or I can

create my own righteousness or it's just

up to me and my merit I can make it

happen again the problem with that is

you're taking away faith and you cannot

have a proper covenant relationship with

God if you take away the higher law if

you take away faith in his sacrifice it

changes everything

and eventually when judgment comes those

idols that lower law meant

he only becomes worth nothing even to

those that follow it it says in verse 20

in that day a man shall cast his idols

of silver and his idols of gold which he

hath made for himself to worship to the

moles into the bats to go into the

clefts of the rocks and into the tops of

the ragged rocks for the fear of the

Lord shall come upon them and the

majesty of his glory shall smite them

when he arises to shake terribly the

earth right so again focusing on just

ourselves and we're weird means we're

proud right we're focused inwardly and

not outwardly on a faith in the

sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the

blessings that he would give us

revelation that he would give us that's

where the judgment would come it's

rejecting the higher law and then in

chapter 13 or chapter 3 of Isaiah we're

just gonna read the top summary of this

and get an idea of what he's talking

about and now let's related back to his

intro into the last chapter he says

Judah and Jerusalem or the summary says

Judah and Jerusalem will be punished for

their disobedience the Lord pleased

foreign judges his people the daughters

of Zion are cursed and tormented for

their world worldliness okay so how is

this something that's just beyond you

know preaching fire and brimstone from

Isaiah well again where have we come

from if we tie this all back to what

Nephi spoke of previously of the higher

in the lower laws right the law of grace

and mercy above the law of Moses down

below and those that are pushing

away the higher law those that are

pushing away Christ these are the

judgments that come because of that now

is that mean that there's just a very

mad and demanding God in that sense in

the Old Testament you can kind of look

at it that way but again think about the

scribes that have been through all of

the Old Testament

and just take that into consideration

but understand what's being said here is

that again there are natural consequence

and that's what Nephi is talking about

here he's saying look when you've been

given this and you know better it's

like anything if you know better about

something how much worse is it when you

go against it for you how much how much

more torment is there for you on that

and in a sense you can call that God's

judgment because you might be more

ashamed right you fell short of

something that you knew better about

there are judgments there are natural

consequences for these things

so for Nephi and his people there would

be natural consequences of denying the

higher law again look back at Jerusalem

and so for us it's the same thing if we

liken that unto ourselves and we see all

of these things happening here punished

for their disobedience okay that's true

but think of the theme here denying the

higher law if we don't accept the

blessings of the Lord and follow a path

that helps us create faith in Jesus

Christ and what he did and also part of

the higher law the Holy Ghost because

it's coming down to us right it's a gift

from God that's why it's a gift the gift

makes it the higher law and so if we're

pushing away all of those things then

there are natural consequences for that

and that is part of Nephi's theme here

that he's going over with inserting

these that's why I see it right as he

inserts these themes about Isaiah and it

helps us to understand this thread going

through Isaiah more right when we see

that the higher and the lower line we're

gonna see the law of Moses against the

higher law throughout all of the Book of

Mormon now he does say here I just want

to quickly dip down into chapter 3

because he talks about this is going to

apply throughout the Book of Mormon we

see this over and over again as we push

away the higher law if we push away

Christ it applies in our own lives and

we see it with a pride cycle right

throughout the Book of Mormon

it says here with all these different

people that is this applies to in verse

five and the people shall be oppressed

right from whom every one by another how

does that happen it only happens when

you look to yourself it's pride right

when you are looking to yourself then

oppression to those around you increases

from yourself you are not being

Christ-like in love and charity and

giving to those around you so you're

oppressed by everybody else and you're

oppressing everybody else that's what

this devolves into as you remove these

higher laws and everyone by his neighbor

the child shall behave himself proudly

against the ancient or their parents and

their grandparents and those that are

older and the base against the Honorable

hmm you ever see that happen right the

base would be those that are not

appropriate right those that are not

following higher principles right and

they will oppress those that are

honorable those that are following those

principles and if you think about it

right as you look at all these things we

talk about what is he talking about here

what is this upheaval about its

structure right as we have those values

hierarchy in place and we apply it in

our lives and others apply it in their

lives to at least a certain level then

there is structure in your society but

as you remove the values hierarchy and

you destroy that and you have other

idols that you put in front of Christ

and the principles eternal principles of

the higher law then what is going to

happen your hierarchy in civilization is

going to crumble the Honorable are going

to be oppressed by the base the children

are proud and they oppress the parents

and the grandparents and their elders

it's

complete flip right of and destruction

of hierarchy it's just a reflection in a

manifestation of breaking up that values

hierarchy of the way it is supposed to

be and then in Chapter 14 here we get a

famous phrase here that we've heard

about that's applied to polygamy

sometimes and it starts off in verse 1

here it says and in that day seven women

shall take hold of one man I don't want

to go into this a lot now I am bringing

it up just because it's kind of like the

elephant in the room but there is a lot

more to this that has to do with Middle

Eastern myth right it's in other words

what I mean by myth is stories and

narratives especially in Egypt that you

would find with this so just know that

there is a backstory so to speak with

this but here we get again the

restoration of Zion and her daughters

remember in the last chapter

it was the daughters that were

disobedient and they will be redeemed

and cleansed in the Millennial day so

again it's getting rid of the higher law

everything falls apart

but eventually just so you know have

hope there is restoration very common

theme here so what is Isaiah then

building off of here he's building off

of this destruction of a higher law and

again it's all focused on Christ so if

you see that strain again I'm beating a

dead horse here but if you see that then

you understand how he keeps going over

these things and giving examples about

falling away from the doctrine of Christ

and away from the covenants the

Abrahamic covenant

so again just summary here in chapter 15

the Lord's vineyard which is Israel

remember what we have in Jacob 5 about

the olive trees that's the vineyard also

will become desolate so again it's like

the daughters of Jerusalem falling away

and his people will be scattered this is

part of the process again it's a message

actually of hope it's warning but it is

a message of hope what the Lord is doing

here through Isaiah saying

this is how it all works not everybody

is going to accept things right now and

a lot of people will fall away but there

is hope because there will be

restoration it's the same with you

individually with Christ you've fallen

away from God but there is hope for you

and it has to do with the sacrifice of

Jesus Christ you need to learn to have

faith in that

there is restoration for you and woes

will come upon them in their apostate

and scattered State the Lord will lift

an ensign and will gather Israel so the

great gathering here the greatest

gathering of all in the last days here

all has to do with restoration it all

has to do with these different peoples

helping each other out and that linchpin

of all of that everything that holds

that together the keystone of all that

is Christ and the higher law and then we

get over to chapter 16 and here we're

gonna spend just a little bit more time

a few minutes on this because of our

principal our interpreter of temple

imagery and drama because what he sees

here now and again he started with the

temple he's going right back to the

temple here what he sees here envisioned

remember this is a vision that's why it

sounds so odd is a temple experience so

here if me if I wants you to like in

Isaiah unto you you should like in this

chapter to your own experience so let's

dig into this just a little bit here

first of all it says here in verse 1

which is interesting in the year that

King Uziah died I saw the Lord sitting

upon a throne high and lifted up and his

train filled the temple all right so

this would be a year then if there's a

dead king where there would be a

coronation right so this could very well

be just like we had with possibly Nephi

and Jacob this could very well be a

Feast of Tabernacles timing here where

this vision is given to him and a day of

atonement and a coronation we're going

to get

same thing with Benjamin shortly so if

we think about this as a temple

experience here I saw also the Lord

sitting upon a throne boom whenever you

read that think the temple write it so

we're gonna apply this to I think the

most appropriate way to do this we can

get a little bit more comfortable and

intimate in the in the study group on

this I think because it's not just going

out to the masses they're here like the

podcast does but if you whenever you see

that you think about the Temple of

Solomon and where is the throne of God

it's in the Holy of Holies behind the

veil right so I saw also the Lord

sitting upon a throne high and lifted up

and his train filled the temple right so

if you don't if you read about the

throne of God and you don't have temple

written right after it just know it's a

temple vision and above it stood the

Seraphim who are the Seraphim the

Seraphim are the fiery serpents

that's what Seraphim means well where

else do we hear about the fiery serpents

let's move into some imagery here with

Moses and the brazen serpent remember

that the people would were bitten by all

of the snakes all of the fiery serpents

which is not to me that they're red or

on fire

I believe what that means is they're

poisonous right it's poison and all they

have to do is look to the brazen serpent

which represents Christ which by the way

as you would know if you listen to me

gets thrown out in Isaiah's time which

is very interesting so two of these

Seraphim we could also think of cherubim

right a similar type of an image maybe

not necessarily serpents but some type

of beasts that are represented in the

temple we know we have at least the two

that are on the Ark of the Covenant and

then there were probably two other large

cherubim or maybe Seraphim that are up

and above the throne so what are these

what does this represent we keep

going here each one had six wings with

twain he covered his face that's two of

the wings they covered their faces with

twain he covered his feet and with twain

he did fly I’m not going to go into all

of this right now we don't have the time

but we have these let's just call them

beings that are in the holy of holies

and they would have been represented on

the inside of the veil probably stitched

in and maybe also as figures that would

have been in there and one cried to

another and said holy holy holy is the

lord of hosts the whole earth is full of

his glory okay so these are beasts or

beings that are very loyal to Christ

well how does that is that represented

by fiery serpents with Moses because

those are Seraphim that's how you would

say that they are fiery serpents well

let's keep going and the posts of the

door moved at the voice of him that

cried and the house was filled with

smoke I'll remember that

incense would be burned in the temple

and that would represent the prayers and

would represent the glory of God and in

verse five then said I was unto me for I

am undone because I am a man of unclean

lips and I dwell in the midst of a

people of unclean lips for mine eyes

have seen the king the Lord of hosts

when you take a charcoal for so to speak

let's say from the altar of incense and

he says he has unclean lips he might

take that charcoal and put it to his

lips figuratively and what that would

represent is repentance so he sees the

Redeemer and then says I have unclean

lips which means I need to repent and

maybe to the point of I've been teaching

some of these things that are wrong

remember that the Deuteronomists had

already gotten involved at Isaiah's time

a hundred years before Lehi and there's

a lot of reforms that seem very odd they

make him sound good but they're odd just

like in the time of Lehi and Josiah and

then it says here following up with us

in verse six then flew one of the

Seraphim one of the beasts unto me

having a live coal in his hand which he

had taken with the tongs from off the

altar okay again my first thought in

reading things like this again is ritual

but it's also possible fitting things

together that once he sees the Lord and

fills he has to repent was his idea of

Christ wrong before that is that why he

is so emphatic about the doctrine of

Christ and his messianic teachings

throughout the rest of Isaiah four seven

and he laid it upon my mouth and said lo

this has touched thy lips and thine

iniquity is taken away and thy sin

purged again could just be ritual and

that's something you do because you've

seen the Lord but it does fit in with

the knee whore principle here and a

rejection of the doctrine of Christ at

this time and it says right after this

also I heard the voice of the Lord

saying whom shall I send just like we

get with the war in heaven right but

here the Lord Jehovah says to him whom

shall I send and who will go for us

who's us well the only people they've

been talking about here so far would be

the Lord and the Seraphim but I think

what you're starting to get out here

that we have in the Holy of Holies and

what we understand to be in the

beginning in the Holy of Holies is the

council that was held in the

pre-existence so just like in the

council the Savior is the one who said I

will go here Isaiah responds to his call

and says here am I send me

right so it's very very reminiscent

of the role of Jehovah as accepting the

role of the Savior Redeemer in the

pre-existence that happened at the

council in heaven so in a sense he has

this vision he sees Christ he feels he

has to repent or he's shown that he

needs to repent and then he says I will

take on this calling who's gonna be sent

for what in verse 9 and he said go and

tell this people hear ye indeed but they

understood not and ye and see indeed but

they perceive not what is it well to me

again it is the doctrine of Christ the

people don't get it or at least the

majority don't and this is what Nephi is

intrigued with remember that he saw the

Redeemer in his vision when he was

asking the angelic host about the

Lehigh's dream he saw all of this he

understood the doctrine of Christ and

that's what he's so emphatic about this

because it's the exact opposite of what

he was seeing in Jerusalem so again that

theme is carrying right through here

right to the core right to the core of

the temple and they've got a temple now

in the land of Nephi they've built one

according to the design of the Temple of

Solomon so we see here in this temple

imagery being revealed again the

doctrine of Christ just like the temple

imagery of Lehigh's vision the Tree of

Life the tree of knowledge of good and

evil or the great and spacious building

the iron rod this is about the doctrine

of Christ and that there is a hierarchy

that is in place in the council in

heaven now one last thing here I'm gonna

give you on this is apply this to

yourself liken this to you if you were

how do I say this appropriately if you

were to go to the temple of Solomon

today

and you were to move toward the Lord on

his throne behind the veil would you

have to go through some messengers to

get there would you have to go through

judgment would you have to go through

those that would hold you back if you're

not looking to Christ would you have to

go through fiery serpents that are going

to test you and if you're not focused on

the doctrine of Christ are you going to

make it to the Savior on his throne so

again if we liken Isaiah to ourselves

we're going to understand a little bit

more about our own experiences and we

can even get likening here the Nephi

might be doing with Isaiah here in

talking about their own temple

experiences to one degree or another I

don't know what ordinances they would

have had or what they would have gone

through I don't know but it's obvious to

me that Lehi and Nephi and Jacob are

going through some type of a Melchizedek

ordinance as they talk about these

things or have gone through them so here

we can really liken Isaiah unto

ourselves here and then quickly here we

went through this chapter 7 if we read

about the we have just the summary on

top here Ephraim and Syria wage war

against Judah Christ will be born of a

virgin right Ephraim is the northern

kingdom right they're going to wage war

against the southern kingdom where Judah

is where Jerusalem is that's the

northern tribes and they do they have a

lot of conflicts together but eventually

Assyria actually comes in and destroys

Ephraim destroys the northern tribes and

then attacks Judah they aren't

successful in going all the way and

conquering Jerusalem but they try their

clothes and they conquer a lot of the

lands in Judah and then we get here also

as we're talking about the doctrine of

Christ we get here we get here in verse

14 therefore the Lord himself shall give

you a sign be

hold think about Nephi's vision Nephi's

tree of life issue behold a virgin shall

conceive and shall bear a son and shall

call his name Emmanuel right now a lot

of people will say that this has nothing

to do with Christ right remember how

Isaiah writes he writes symbolically to

apply it to many situations but what

does a manual mean manual is a title

that we get for Jesus Christ and it's

specific to him right it's not specific

to the father or the Holy Ghost it's

specific to Jesus Christ because of what

it means is God with us God amongst us

well what would that mean when we're

thinking about the doctrine of Christ it

means he comes down to earth he comes

down to earth and takes on a body and

lives mortally with us and goes through

everything with us that's what a man

well means it is the condescension of

God so again carries right through

Isaiah here in verse in chapter 18 just

one quick thing here that I really like

in the summary here Christ will be as a

stone of stumbling and a rock of offense

so again we get that idea of the

procession that I've gone over several

times whereas if you are trying to

prepare the way your own way or prepared

for somebody else you have to clear the

path of all the stumbling blocks well

one of the big stumbling blocks is is if

you don't accept the doctrine of Christ

if you don't accept the higher law then

a Christ actually becomes one of those

stumbling blocks that doesn't allow you

to clear the path so that the king

Christ can come through or that you can

go through in your own procession think

of yourself in a procession in the

temple of Solomon or the temple of Herod

even that's where Jesus goes - right he

comes into that whole triumphal entry is

not about him being triumphant over

something it's about him going to the

temple that's what that path is

and that's what John the Baptist

represents in preparing that path it's

about the king and the priest being

Jesus Christ going to the Holy of Holies

and then in chapter 19 real quick we get

further messianic themes here from Nephi

through Isaiah verse 6 for unto us

you've heard this from Handel's Messiah

run to us a child is born unto us a son

is given and the government shall be

upon his shoulder and his or the

priesthood and his name shall be called

wonderful counselor the mighty God the

everlasting father in the Prince of

Peace which is very similar to

Melchizedek the king of righteousness

Prince of Peace would be the Prince of

Salem and we might think of this also in

a ritual setting where the King would

take on these titles acting as in

Jehovah in a temple drama in chapter 20

we get more about scattering and

destruction and then restoration and

that has to do with Jacob and the

covenants that are made with Abraham

Isaac and Jacob in chapter 21 more

messianic language in verses 1 verse 1

it says and there shall come forth a rod

out of the stem of Jesse that is David's

father and a branch shall grow out of

his roots right so we've heard that

before and then in chapter 23 this is

Isaiah 13 this is some reasons why some

people think that Isaiah was written

after the Exile or while Judah was in

exile or after because now they're gonna

talk about Babylon but the problem here

is that Babylon is already a threat in

Isaiah's time sound like they're not a

threat and it's not like they don't see

Babylon as an iniquitous civilization at

the time of Isaiah or from the time of

Isaiah down to the time of King

Nebuchadnezzar who actually ends up

destroying Jerusalem and we cannot take

away as a lot of biblical scholarship

does the idea of prophecy Isaiah is

prophesying about Babylon just like

Jeremiah prophesied in Lehigh's time

that if they aligned with Egypt

that Babylon would destroy them that was

prophecy this is Isaiah prophesy about

what's going to happen with Babylon but

if you don't believe in prophecy then

your natural reaction is oh well this

was written after Babylon already

destroyed them so the question is is do

you believe in prophecy now that doesn't

mean that there weren't edits right that

were made in the Book of Isaiah even in

the time of Lehi or before the time of

Lehi that's a real possibility but

remember the two things we've gone over

that are removed constantly from the

scriptures are the doctrine of Christ

and prophecy as the laman and Lemuel's

whole issue is on those two things

the doctrine of Christ and their father

being a visionary man so the summary

here the destruction of Babylon is a

type of the destruction at the second

coming so he sees this remember much of

this if not all of this much of this his

vision he's seeing it he's seeing the

future just like Nephi saw the future of

his descendants right I mean we get

again here in verse 1 of chapter 23 the

burden of Babylon which Isaiah the son

of a mestizo it's not hard it's

like a lot of biblical scholarship

who wants to say what layman and let me

he'll say oh these are visionary men we

don't believe in this right no he is a

visionary man he's a prophet so he sees

this in a vision and so as he sees this

with Babylon he likens this unto the

last days also the same thing is going

to happen why would he liken that to the

last days because it's when Jerusalem

gets destroyed and so on the last day

something very similar is going to

happen right there's going to be a

massive amount of adversity from quotes

Babylon unquote and then finally in

chapter 24 I want to go all the way down

to verse 12 here and just bring this up

this is about the pre-existence and

again going back to that idea of the

council in heaven where the doctrine of

Christ is launched so to speak

this is Isaiah he says how art thou

fallen from heaven

Oh Lucifer that's the name of Satan in

the premortal life he was a person of

light that's what Lucifer is son of the

morning that would be like Venus coming

up over the horizon in the morning art

thou cut down to the ground which did

weaken the nations for thou hast said in

thine heart I will ascend into heaven

but I put myself above I will exalt my

throne above the stars of God so that

would be Adam and you and me I will sit

also upon the Mount of the congregation

in the sides of the north I will ascend

above the heights of the clouds I will

be like the Most High but of course this

would be here as we move along this

thread here through these chapters

because he's the exact antithesis of the

individual in the premortal life that

said Here I am send me I will commit the

act I will demonstrate that level of

love through suffering I will make this

work for everybody if they choose to

make it work so those that have pushed

away the higher law and focused in on

just doing it themselves that's exactly

what this guy here is trying to say I

will exalt my self so it all carries

this thread about the Messiah about the

Abrahamic covenant about the higher

lower laws about the law of grace and

mercy above and the law of Moses below

and how they work together and carries

it right back to the beginning to the

temple to the council in heaven where

the doctrine of Christ kind of was

launched

so then Nephi in chapter 25 gives his

commentary on all of this and again what

is he gonna focus on right he's gonna

focus on that thread that we've just

gone through those threads of Covenant

and the doctrine of Christ and he talks

about how Isaiah might be difficult to

understand because it's done in the way

that the Jews

taught and understood things and me if I

didn't want to teach his children that

they the Nephites did not understand

those things they didn't talk in that

manner and he says it's because you know

maybe he's got a bad taste in his mouth

because the Jews completely rejected it

right in the spiritual way that Isaiah

writes in symbolism Nephi wanted to be a

little bit more plain right he's gonna

come directly out and say Jesus Christ

and the doctrine of Christ and be very

specific about things that's what it

seems like to me and he talks about how

Jerusalem has been destroyed but it will

eventually be restored how the Jews will

then reject Christ because of the

hardness of their hearts that's in verse

12 and that they will begin being very

specific they will crucify him and after

he is laid in a supplicant for the space

of three days he shall rise from the

dead with healing in his wings and all

those who shall believe on his name this

is what isaiah is talking about shall be

saved in the kingdom of God and then

after the Messiah hath been risen from

the dead Jerusalem will be destroyed

again he's again prophesying about all

of this and that the Jews will be

scattered and Babylon shall be destroyed

and that they will be scattered until

they start to believe in Christ the Son

of God I like how he inputs that right

there right until they because again

they believed in a Christ they believed

in a messiah the Jews the Deuteronomists

but not the son of God so until they

believe in Christ the Son of God and the

atonement which is infinite for all

mankind

and then in 17 and the Lord will set his

hand again the second time to restore

his people from their lost and fallen

state wherefore and we've heard this

many times he will proceed to do a

marvelous work and wonder among the

children of men a lot of us we think of

that as maybe the Book of Mormon well

but the Mormons probably just a part of

that this is all about the gospel being

spread throughout the world and about

the covenants being restored and about

gathering Israel as president

Elsa says and then in nineteen he

prophesized he says for according to the

words of the prophets okay so the

prophets knew the timing of this we know

Daniel did we have that in Daniel the

Book of Daniel but it says he says here

for according to the words of the

prophets the Messiah cometh in 600 years

from the time that my father left

Jerusalem so the prophets actually knew

when this would happen he must have had

it written down and his name shall be

Jesus Christ the Son of God and then we

get back to Moses and the Serpent's here

back to the Seraphim verse 20 and now my

brother and I have spoken plainly that

ye cannot err right he's not being

symbolic like Isaiah and as the Lord God

liveth that brought Israel up out of the

land of Egypt and gave unto Moses power

that he should heal the nation's after

they had been bitten by the poisonous

serpents that's Isaiah chapter 6 if they

would cast their eyes onto the serpent

which did he did raise up before them

again very interesting that in Isaiah's

time that serpent was removed from the

temple and also gave him power that he

should smite the rock and the water

should come forth

yay behold I saying to you that as these

things are true and as the Lord liveth

there is none other name given under

heaven save it be this Jesus Christ of

which I have spoken whereby man can be

saved and then he focuses on Joseph who

is their ancestor under Jacob that the

promises may be fulfilled unto Joseph

that his seed should never perish as

long as the earth should stand and then

we hear this often somewhat

controversial in certain circles today

on in verse 23 says for we labor

diligently to write to persuade our

children and also our brethren to

believe in Christ this whole thing with

Isaiah has been about Christ and to be

reconciled to God that's us individually

for we know that it is by

race that we are saved after all we can

do so we had this before also in the

writings of Nephi

where it's us and Jacob that we have to

reconcile ourselves so that's the lower

law so first he goes over that says it

persuade them to be reconciled or

brought together at one ment to God

that's what you have to do

that's obeying the commandments that's

prayer that is repentance and after all

you can do you are not saved by those

things you can't be saved by all that

you do you can never get there on your

own

you must have he inserts it right here

for we know that it is by grace that we

are saved again in other words the law

of Moses will not save you and 24 and

notwithstanding we believe in Christ we

keep the law of Moses you need to be

reconciled to Christ you need to keep

the commandments no matter what the law

is at the time for them it's the law of

Moses you've got to reconcile

yourself to God but we look forward with

steadfastness to unto Christ that's the

purpose of obeying the commandments

until the law shall be fulfilled so for

them the law of Moses will be fulfilled

in Christ but the law of God the lower

law the ironic law never goes away and

I'm going to continue on with this

because this is important in this theme

for 25 for this end was the law

given wherefore the law hath become dead

unto us the commandments you can look at

it that way are dead on their own right

the tree of knowledge of good and evil

is dead on its own without the Tree of

Life

so it's dead unto us and we are made

alive in Christ because of our faith yet

we keep the law because of the

commandments that is at one ment and he

finishes off here and we talk of Christ

we rejoice in Christ we preach of Christ

he's emphasizing

doctrine of Christ in the higher law we

prophesy of Christ and we write

according to our prophecies that our

children may know to what source they

may look for a remission of their sins

to get past the fiery serpents

wherefore we speak concerning the law

that our children may know the deadness

of the law in other words you can't just

tell people this is how you have to

dress or make sure you don't consume

that because that on its own is dead

those checklists are dead on their own

and if we have a mentality than of

continually looking at what can't we do

what do we not do and make sure that

nobody else does it and that becomes the

priority we're now lifting in a sense

the law of Moses or the lower law above

the higher law not that those things

aren't important but if we take away the

purpose of the commandments then we've

taken away the higher law it's all to

look forward to who you are becoming and

what your potential is and the charity

that you can provide for others take

that away and the law is dead and again

talking about all the prophets that have

prophesied of Christ for the right way

is to believe in Christ and deny him not

for by denying him he also deny the

prophets and the law so what is this

whole strain been about what is this

whole chapters from 11 to 25 and before

that as well but focusing here on 2nd

Nephi 11 to 25 with all these Isaiah

chapters he just told us it's about the

higher and lower law it's about putting

idols that we make for ourselves

Commandments pride checklists a Tower of

Babel moving that above the higher law

of grace and mercy and the sacrifice of

Jesus Christ if we remove that doctrine

that allows us to become and to grow and

to become more like the Savior if you

think about it the Covenant

that we have being at one with God part

of that hey Big D part of it really I

mean is becoming like him right if he's

here and we're down here we're trying to

become more like him that's it's being

more at one so it's that be coming and

looking forward to that through our

faith in Jesus Christ and that type of a

relationship that Nephi is going through

and that's what he's drawing on here

with Isaiah so I hope that as we've and

this is the biggest bulk of Isaiah that

we're gonna get we still have several

references that we're gonna be able to

build off of now with this foundation

here with Isaiah but understand why it's

there it is about the doctrine of Christ

and the covenants that are made the new

and everlasting covenant made with

Abraham Isaac and Jacob and the house of

Israel and we all play a part in that

and if we try to remove it then things

fall apart and we're gonna see that over

and over and over again throughout the

rest of the Book of Mormon and I'm

excited to go over it I'll talk to you

next time